Another of those handy free web tools surfaced this week, no doubt put together by someone with too much free time. NameChk.com will see if your brand name is available on any of 122 social networking sites (most of which will (a) you've never heard of, and (b) will have evaporated in the next 12 months).

It is a valuable tool, and you should move now to check whether your brand has already been "squatted" on any of these sites, particularly the more popular ones like FaceBook, YouTube, and B logger.

While we continually advise our clients to focus on email, the leading driver of web traffic and donations, there's little doubt that social networking will come into its own someday. When it does, you'll need to have a protected brand. I was surprised to find our parent company "Amergent" on YouTube, until I found out it was someone else completely.

For more on social networking planning, (or making money now with email) contact Rick or Heather at NPAdvisors/Amergent.

Also, please see our blog post: Where have all the donors gone? We're looking for your input on the problem and the solution.

July 2009